Cigarette container, ejector, and lighter



'- y 24, 1934- G. B. CLEMMER I 1,967,663

CIGARETTE CONTAINER, EJEGTOR, AND LIGHTER Filed-April 30, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 24, 1934.

G. CLEMMER CIGARETTE CONTAINER, EJECTOR,

AND LIGHTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fi-ledApril 50, 1932 Patented July 24, 1934 PATENT oFFicE CIGARETTE CONTAINER, EJECTOR, AND LIGHTER George B. Clemmer, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Albert G. Fie'dler, Baltimore, Md.

Application April 30, 1932, Serial No. 608,408 1- Claim. (Cl. 312-84) My invention relates to an improved cigarette container, ejector and lighter. g The primary object of the invention is to provide a combined cigarette container, ejector and lighter which may be operated with one hand to deliver a lighted cigarette to the operator.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a device which will require no connections other than an electrical connection to the battery of the vehicle or other source of electric current.

Another object of the invention is to provide a receiver for the cigarette as it is delivered from the container which will automatically dispose the cigarette in operative relation to a lighter element.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container adapted to hold a number of cigarettes and to provide the same with means for ejecting one cigarette at a time to the receiver and also to provide means within the container for feeding the cigarettes in proper relation to the ejecting means.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means for completing the circuit .to the lighter element simultaneously with the operation of the ejecting means.

Other objects and advantages not specifically mentioned will become apparent during the course of the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and in which; 7 I

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention mounted upon the steering post of an automobile;

Figure 2'is an exploded perspective view of the device, showing the interior of the container;

Figure 3 is an end view of the device;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken through the adjacent end of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional View taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is an end View of the control knob;

Figure '7 is a perspective view of one ofthe contact elements, and

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view illustrating the form of the receiving trough. I

Referring now more in detail to the drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout the same, my improved cigarette container,

ejector and lighter is shown as mounted upon the steering post 10 of an automobile.

The cigarette container comprises a substantially rectangular metallic box or receptacle 11 of the box.

whichv comprises side walls 12 and 13, end walls 14 and 15 and a bottom 16. A clamping bracket 1'7 secured to a plate 18 which in turn is secured to the side 12 of the box 11 by means of screws 19 serves to mount the box in an inclined position on the steering post 10 so that the cigarettes 20 within the box will roll by gravity to the lower end thereof. The box 11 is wide enough to accommodate a cigarette when laid transversely therein and deep enough to permit at least two layers of cigarettes to be placed in the box at one time.

The box 11 is formed at its lower end with an ejector compartment 21 which is slightly deeper than the remainder of the box and a cover plate is provided comprising two sections 22 and 23, hingedly connected as at 24 to each other. The section 22 is formed to cover the cigarette compartment 25 of the box 11 and the section 21 to cover the ejector compartment 21 thereof, the y cover being held from displacement by a spring keeper 26 carried on the upper end wall 14 of the box.

The portion of the box 11 comprising the ejector compartment 21 is open at thev bottom, the opening being closed by a dispensing roller 27 mounted on a shaft 28 journalled between the side walls 12 and 13 of the box. The roller 27 is formed with a longitudinally extending pocket or groove 29 for the reception of a cigarette from the compartment 25, the cigarette being delivered through the open bottom of the compartment 21 upon a partial rotation of the roller 27 in a clockwise direction from the positionshown in the drawings, which is the normal position.

In order to insure that the cigarettes will be properly fed from the compartm nt 25 to the dispensing roller 27, a shutter 30 is mounted for swinging movement between the side walls of the box slightly above and forwardly of the roller 27 the shutter having lateral projections 31 at the upper corners which rest in recesses 32 in the sides The lower edge of the shutter is curved forwardly as at 33 to fit the contour of a cigarette and a rearwardly ofiset bearing portion 34 is formed centrally of the shutter. A cam ele-' ment carried by the roller 27 engages the offset bearing portion to swing the shutter upwardly each time the roller is partially rotated to dispense a cigarette. Since the cigarettes in the upper layer are held in position by the shutter, each forward swinging movement thereof will slide the entire upper layer upwardly a short distance thereby feeding the cigarettes one by one from the upper to the lower layer as they are dispensed. The roller 27 is cut away as at 36 just forwardly of the cam 35 to clear the lower end of the offset bearing portion 34 of the shutter. Retrograde movement of the shutter 30 under the weight of the cigarettes bearing thereagainst is limited by contact of the lower edge of the shuter with the roller 27.

The lower face of the roller 27 is flattened as at 3'7 to lie substantially flush with the lower edge of the walls of the box 11, counter-clockwise movement of the roller being limited by contact of this flattened portion 37 with a flange 38 formed with the lower end wall 15 of the box.

Rotary movement is imparted to the roller 27 and shaft 28 through a knurled knob 39 which is mounted upon the extended end 40 or the shaft 28, being secured fast thereon by a set screw 41. The knob 39 and thus the shaft 28 and roller 27 are normally urged in a counter-clockwise direction by an axially tensioned coiled spring 42 mounted in a recess 43 in the inner face of the knob and surrounding the end 10 of the shaft 28,

said spring having one end anchored to the knob and the other end anchored to the side wall 13 of the boxll.

A trough 4 1 is mounted on the bottom of the box 11 beneath the open bottom of the compartment 21 so as to receive the cigarette discharged by the roller 27. The bottom of the trough 44 is inclined both upwardly and forwardly and its front wall 45 and rear wall 46 are helically curved from their upper edges to their juncture at the bottom of the trough to guide the cigarette into position in the bottom of the trough, the rear wall terminating in a flange 47 which is secured by screws 48 to the bottom wall 16 of the box 11. The front wall 45 is partially cut away as at 49 near the upper end of the trough to facilitate removal of the cigarette and is formed with an upstanding flange 50 which is secured as by a screw 51 to the lower end wall 15 of the box 11. The flanges 4'7 and 50 are insulated from the box 11 by means of fibre or other sheets 52 and the screws 48 and 51 are also insulated from the flanges.

The lower end of the trough 44 is closed by an electric heating coil 53 mounted upon said trough and the space above said coil and between the front and rear walls 45 and 46 is closed by an insulating block 54 mounted upon an angular metal plate 55 secured to said walls by screws 56.

It will readily be seen that due to the shape and inclination of the trough and the placement of the heating element at the lower end thereof, when a cigarette is dropped into the trough it will slide by force of gravity until one end engages the heating element, whereupon the heating element being energized the cigarette will be ignited.

A conductor 57 leads from the storage battery of the vehicle or other source of current to the binding post 58 which is connected to one end of the wire coil of the heating element. The other end of the wire coil is connected toa contact plate 59 in the face of the insulating block 5 1 by means of a metallic connector strip 66.

A swinging contact finger 61 formed with a bearing sleeve 62 is mounted on the end of the shaft 28 opposite the knob 39, said sleeve extending through the adjacent side wall 12 of the box memes 11 and forming a bearing for the shaft 28 to which the sleeve and finger are rigidly secured by a set screw 63. To insure that the shaft 28, finger 61 and roller 2'7 will move in unison, the finger 61 has a laterally projecting pin 64 formed therewith and engaged in the end of said roller. The contact finger 61 is disposed at such an angle with respect to the contact plate 59 and roller 27 that when the parts are in normal position, as shown, the finger 61 will be out of contact with the plate 59, but as soon as the shaft and roller are rotated to deliver a cigarette to the trough, the finger 61 will make a brushing contact with the plate and will thus complete the ground circuit through the box 11 and steering post 10, resulting in heating of the element 53 and lighting of the cigarette discharged into the trough.

In operation, with the device mounted at an angle so that the cigarettes will feed by gravity into pocket 29 in the dispensing roller, all that will be necessary to procure a lighted cigarette will be to give a quarter turn in a clockwise direction to the knob 39. This will cause a like turning of the roller and the discharge of a cigarette into the trough. Due to the form and inclination of the trough, the cigarette will slide down until one end rests against the heating element 53 as shown in Figure 4. With the first movement of the roller and shaft, the contact finger 61 will engage the plate 59 to complete the circuit to the element 53, which will be aglow by the time the cigarette reaches it. The operator by holding the knob against return movement for a moment may insure that the cigarette is ignited before releasing the knob and removing the lit cigarette from the trough. With each operation of the knob to deliver a cigarette, the shutter 30 is actuated to maintain the cigarettes in the box in uniform rows.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described it will be distinctly understood that various modifications in the details of construction, mounting and operation of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in tacle having a longitudinal groove normally in position to receive the lowermost cigarette in the lower layer, a shutter pivoted in the casing over the roller and having a groove normally in position to receive the lowermost cigarette in the upper layer, manually operable means for rocking the roller in one'direction to carry the lowermost cigarette downwardly and discharge it through said opening, and means associated with the roller for simultaneously swinging the shutter in the opposite direction to move theupper layer of cigarettes upwardly.

GEORGE B. CLEMMER. 

